Northern California's KTSF web site

gregsan wrote:

The ghosting problems I was having were VERY obvious when played on my TV (which it shouldn't since TVs normally deal with interlaced images). The problem (it seems) is that when converting the interlaced video to Divx, the interlacing is burned into the encoded image permanently thus the motion looks blurry or ghosted because the 2nd (interlaced frame) is encoded with the new 1st frame during motion sequences and so the moving object looks like it's in 2 places at the same time. I guess it's a problem with Virtualdub (though I'm not sure it's ONLY a problem with Virtualdub) with regards to how it initially handles the interlaced video when it's trying to encode. It seems like there's a lot of heated discussion regarding this among the video forums.

Hopefully the new de-interlacing filter will do the trick (fingers crossed)!

Do you have top convert to DiVx?? why not MPEG2/DVD like Elt mentioned? It might save you from this current grief.....

@gregsan: I think I know what you mean about ghosting now. I once did a DVD-rip to AVI encode once, which was back before I had a DVD burner that resulted in something similar to what you say. Although this only occured in high motion scenes. My method was just a standard rip with DVD-decrypter and I would encode using gordian knot and finally virtual dub with xvid (2 passes). I don't normally do that anymore and I never did find out the source of the problem but I blamed interlaced video as the issue. But even now when I do dvd to avi with my dvd recorder, virtual dub for me doesnt have any problems with interlaced video. Check out the Heaven's Coins rips for that. I always add a deinterlace filter though just for the xvid encode. I think maybe ripping with tmpgenc dvd author into an mpeg-2 is more stable than ripping the entire DVD with dvd decrypter but Im not sure if this will help your problem since you're going from a dv cam to the computer right so tmpgenc dvd author won't be needed huh?

eltinator wrote:@gregsan: I think I know what you mean about ghosting now. I once did a DVD-rip to AVI encode once, which was back before I had a DVD burner that resulted in something similar to what you say. Although this only occured in high motion scenes. My method was just a standard rip with DVD-decrypter and I would encode using gordian knot and finally virtual dub with xvid (2 passes). I don't normally do that anymore and I never did find out the source of the problem but I blamed interlaced video as the issue. But even now when I do dvd to avi with my dvd recorder, virtual dub for me doesnt have any problems with interlaced video. Check out the Heaven's Coins rips for that. I always add a deinterlace filter though just for the xvid encode. I think maybe ripping with tmpgenc dvd author into an mpeg-2 is more stable than ripping the entire DVD with dvd decrypter but Im not sure if this will help your problem since you're going from a dv cam to the computer right so tmpgenc dvd author won't be needed huh?

As virtualdub is chugging away (currently) it appears in the output window that the image is much "crisper" around the moving people, etc...I think the key is the deinterlace filter. I've now passed my video throuhg something like 6 passes (granted only once now with the deinterlace filter). I kept the same log file though so hopefully (after a 7th pass - 2nd with the deinterlace filter) my picture should look damn good.

The reason I'd prefer not to go to MPEG2 (though I did first convert it to SVCD (MPEG2) to see how it looked - the picture was much sharper with less than half the size file) is that the Divx should give better picture (well..I guess it truly depends on the source..but theoretically anyways)...and beyond that the compression is SIGNIFICANTLY smaller. I think MPEG4 has something like 1/10th the size file for the same quality picture or something like that.

I appreciate the suggestions from everyone... :woot:

gregsan wrote:I think MPEG4 has something like 1/10th the size file for the same quality picture or something like that.

True, but the number of DVD players that can play DiVx is considerably smaller... :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
True, but the number of DVD players that can play DiVx is considerably smaller... :sweat:

very true. I have one though so it works for me...and it seems that most (? - or perhaps many) people seem to distribute online in either Divx and/or Xvid (although some do distribute still on SVCD).

gregsan wrote:very true. I have one though so it works for me...and it seems that most (? - or perhaps many) people seem to distribute online in either Divx and/or Xvid (although some do distribute still on SVCD).

Not me. Ever since I got my Pioneer burner, it's DVDs all the way, baby. :D

bmwracer wrote:
Not me. Ever since I got my Pioneer burner, it's DVDs all the way, baby. :D

Yup same here. Burning SVCDs.... *shivers*

I do want to try out a DVD player that plays ISO though :D

bmwracer wrote:
Not me. Ever since I got my Pioneer burner, it's DVDs all the way, baby. :D

How much are DVD burners nowadays? (The home entertainment kind)

I thought I could burn DVDs on my comp, but now I'm not so sure if I can.......... :beaten:

ahochaude wrote:

How much are DVD burners nowadays? (The home entertainment kind)

I thought I could burn DVDs on my comp, but now I'm not so sure if I can.......... :beaten:

Standalone burners are still a couple hundred bucks, I think... I saw one at Target (Daewoo brand) that has a tuner in it. So it's like a VCR, but it takes DVDs/DVDRWs/etc...

My PC's 8X Pioneer burner cost me about $90, but I think it's been replaced by a newer 16X burner...

bmwracer wrote:
Standalone burners are still a couple hundred bucks, I think... I saw one at Target (Daewoo brand) that has a tuner in it. So it's like a VCR, but it takes DVDs/DVDRWs/etc...

My PC's 8X Pioneer burner cost me about $90, but I think it's been replaced by a newer 16X burner...

Daewoo? No thanks. It's like buying a Hyundai. :hehe: :hehe: :hehe:

Perhaps I should buy one for the comp rather than a home entertainment kind of burner. Cheaper, anyway.
I seen all kinds at Circuit City and Comp USA. What's the difference between 9x and 16x?!

ahochaude wrote:Daewoo? No thanks. It's like buying a Hyundai. :hehe: :hehe: :hehe:

Actually, Hyundais have improved significantly in quality and performance...

Perhaps I should buy one for the comp rather than a home entertainment kind of burner. Cheaper, anyway.
I seen all kinds at Circuit City and Comp USA. What's the difference between 9x and 16x?!

Those are the burning speeds... Of course, you need to buy DVDRs that can be burned at that speed or it means nothing... you can try to burn a 4X DVDR at 8X speed, but you could very likely end up with a coaster...

bmwracer wrote:
Those are the burning speeds... Of course, you need to buy DVDRs that can be burned at that speed or it means nothing... you can try to burn a 4X DVDR at 8X speed, but you could very likely end up with a coaster...

Oh, I see.

bmwracer wrote:Actually, Hyundais have improved significantly in quality and performance...

Improved significantly, but they're still pretty much worth as much as a Pepsi can. At least they aren't as low as tin foil anymore.......

eltinator wrote:
I do want to try out a DVD player that plays ISO though :D

The phillips that's on sale through Amazon (and other outlets) for ~ $70 will play pretty much anything. It's a pretty good player (especially for the price). Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000204SWE/103-7249596-7771017?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

gregsan wrote:The phillips that's on sale through Amazon (and other outlets) for ~ $70 will play pretty much anything. It's a pretty good player (especially for the price). Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000204SWE/103-7249596-7771017?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

Oh yeah, that's the Philips 642 that Niko and a buncha other people have bought... From what I've heard it's a pretty good player...

How's the support for that player (firmware, etc.)? I've got a LiteOn and people are burning effigys of that player/company... :(

bmwracer wrote:
Oh yeah, that's the Philips 642 that Niko and a buncha other people have bought... From what I've heard it's a pretty good player...

How's the support for that player (firmware, etc.)? I've got a LiteOn and people are burning effigys of that player/company... :(

It's been good for me (and Phillips ain't likely to go under anytime soon). Firmware is upgradeable through download. The only thing is that it's support for subtitles isn't as good as it can be. It does support subtitles, but not the sophisticated ones where you can manipulate position, font, size, style, etc... Probably though, that'll change and then you just load the updated firmware.

There are also "hacks" that can make it region free (or any specific region if you prefer that instead). Though having said that, I haven't done that myself...so I'm just going on what I've read in some of the forums.

gregsan wrote:It's been good for me (and Phillips ain't likely to go under anytime soon). Firmware is upgradeable through download. The only thing is that it's support for subtitles isn't as good as it can be. It does support subtitles, but not the sophisticated ones where you can manipulate position, font, size, style, etc... Probably though, that'll change and then you just load the updated firmware.

Yeah, Philips isn't gonna tank in the following week, that's for sure...

Hmm, I think Niko did mention on one of the other threads that the Philips didn't support soft-subs, but ehhhhh...

Have the firmware updates been prompt and/or frequent? LiteOn cut off firmware support/upgrades on their discontinued models, the bastards. :angry:

There are also "hacks" that can make it region free (or any specific region if you prefer that instead). Though having said that, I haven't done that myself...so I'm just going on what I've read in some of the forums.

Yep, one of the BIG niceties of this player and the numerous off brands: the Region hack... It's so nice to be able to watch my Region 2 and 3 DVDs (PAL too) on my LiteOn.... :D :applaud:

bmwracer wrote:
Yep, one of the BIG niceties of this player and the numerous off brands: the Region hack... It's so nice to be able to watch my Region 2 and 3 DVDs (PAL too) on my LiteOn.... :D :applaud:

im not sure that the phillips player supports PAL.

also theres a firmware update for the liteon (its old), but i read that it supports soft subs.. and has improved playback for xvid/divx files that couldn't be handled before. the menu has also improved..
theres 2 versions of the firmware, 1 that was released by liteon, and another released by a french hack group.
i flashed my liteon with the official liteon release, and files that couldn't play before, play now. also the visual quality is better. as for soft subs, i couldn't get that to work. :doh:
im trying to flash it with the french firmware, but im having a hard time rolling the firmware back. i've read that some people that used the french firmware were able to get soft subtitles to work.
anyways, although liteon has discontinued firmware releases for our liteon, the player is still a good buy. :mrgreen:

You can DEFINITELY do soft subs (maybe only after the latest firmware revision). They're a little tricky to do...but actually I think I like the way they work. They don't come on automatically, you have to go to the menu and physically select them (outside of the movie). But because of that...you can burn multiple subs...and select different ones (different languages perhaps).

As far as revisions, I haven't had my unit that long and it had the latest revision...so I'm not sure how often they do come out.

amrayu wrote:

im not sure that the phillips player supports PAL.

also theres a firmware update for the liteon (its old), but i read that it supports soft subs.. and has improved playback for xvid/divx files that couldn't be handled before. the menu has also improved..
theres 2 versions of the firmware, 1 that was released by liteon, and another released by a french hack group.
i flashed my liteon with the official liteon release, and files that couldn't play before, play now. also the visual quality is better. as for soft subs, i couldn't get that to work. :doh:
im trying to flash it with the french firmware, but im having a hard time rolling the firmware back. i've read that some people that used the french firmware were able to get soft subtitles to work.
anyways, although liteon has discontinued firmware releases for our liteon, the player is still a good buy. :mrgreen:

Is the liteon a PC drive or a standalone player for your television?

BTW (I guess it's my fault - since I started this whole copying/dvd off topic a while back)..is there anyway to have all of this moved to a new thread with a more relevant topic? I feel bad for having hijacked this thread.

gregsan wrote:

Is the liteon a PC drive or a standalone player for your television?

BTW (I guess it's my fault - since I started this whole copying/dvd off topic a while back)..is there anyway to have all of this moved to a new thread with a more relevant topic? I feel bad for having hijacked this thread.

One of the mods should be able to do it... Whomever that is for this section...

Heading over to this more relevant thread: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.2867.htm

See you over there... :D